Saqsaywaman Archeology Site

Saqsayuma archaeological site was the most important center of power in Inca times, so the Spanish totally destroyed it and used it as a rock quarry to build Cusco. After they were kicked out the practice continued to the 1940’s. Only about 5% is left, but it still is amazing and awe inspiring. Our guide said the original structure had 3 towers with temples in them. If it has survived it would have been among the 7 wonders of the world (the conquistadors own words). The stone is maritime sandstone, which is soft. Our guide said that the most reasonable way they got the rock to fit was that the Inca would make full size models of what the rock sides needed to be like using wood frames and animal skins. Then once the rock was complete it would be slide into place on a ramp. Amazing. It has been estimated that the average rock weighed 180 tons.

What you see in the pictures is only 5% of what was originally there.

Inca “places of power” combined religion, politic, and administration together in one location. This meant that the king was a direct conduit to god and his proclamations had the weight of god's word. This is similar to the European feudal system where the kings were thought of as divinely appointed (at least in their own minds), although in Europe they treated their serfs worse than cattle, the Inca's treated their subjects well and the only taxation was through labor, which was applied equally. The Inca empire made sure that their people were fed, had places to stay, and work appropriate to peoples skills. Experts believe the population of the Inca empire was around 18 million people. The terrace system allowed the Inca to have 2 crops a year using bird guano as fertilizer. The food distribution was that ⅓ went to the gods, ⅓ went to the king, ⅓ went to the people. Every 5 years or so they would either have a drought or flood (due to el Niño), and when food started to get scarce the King would say he had a vision from god and there was no more food problem. He would open the “gods” storehouses and feed the people from what had been stored in the previous years, so no one ever wanted.